Remote radio unit

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a communication device, and in particular, to a Remote Radio Unit (RRU). The RRU includes an RRU radiator structural member and a shell, where the shell includes an evaporator, radiating pipes and a shell body, the inside of the evaporator is in communication with the radiating pipes to form a loop for holding a phase change medium, and the radiating pipes are disposed on the shell body; and the evaporator is connected to a radiator of the RRU radiator structural member. By using the RRU according to the present invention, the radiating efficiency can be improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2010/076593, filed on Sep. 3, 2010, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200910170152.5, filed on Sep. 3, 2009, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a communication device, and in particular, to a Remote Radio Unit (RRU).

BACKGROUND

An RRU is a novel disposed network coverage mode, in the mode, high-capacity macro cell base stations are centrally placed in an accessible central equipment room, baseband parts are processed centrally, and radio frequency modules in a base station is pulled to the RRU by adopting optical fibers, and are separately placed on stations determined by the network planning, thereby saving a large quantity of equipment rooms required by the regular solution; and meanwhile, by adopting a high-capacity macro base station to support pulling a large quantity of optical fibers far away, the conversion between the capacity and the coverage may be achieved. Because of the foregoing advantages of the RRU, the RRU is widely applied.

An existing RRU having a shell includes an RRU radiator structural member and a shell; the RRU radiator structural member includes an RRU and a radiator, a radiating portion of the RRU is connected to the radiator, the radiating portion of the RRU specifically may be a power amplifier module, a duplexer module, or a transceiver module of the RRU, and the radiator includes radiating fins configured to exchange heat with the air so as to achieve radiating. The shell surrounds the RRU and the radiator, and the shell is made of a plastic material, and is connected to the RRU radiator structural member through screws, which functions to be aesthetic and prevent solar radiation.

In the research for the prior art, the inventors find that: the existing RRU only uses the radiating fins of the radiator to perform heat exchange with the air to achieve radiating, and therefore, overall system radiating efficiency is not high.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention provides an RRU, which is capable of improving radiating efficiency.

An RRU includes an RRU radiator structural member and a shell, the shell includes an evaporator, radiating pipes and a shell body, the inside of the evaporator is in communication with the radiating pipes to form a loop for holding a phase change medium, and the radiating pipes are disposed on the shell body; and

the evaporator is connected to a radiator of the RRU radiator structural member.

It may be seen from the foregoing technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention that, in the embodiments of the present invention, the evaporator included by the shell in the RRU is connected to the radiator of the RRU radiator structural member, so the heat of the radiator can be transferred to the evaporator, and the heat may be further transferred to the shell through the radiating pipes since the evaporator is connected to the radiating pipes, so that the shell participates in the radiating, thereby improving the radiating efficiency and improving the work stability of the RRU.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the accompanying drawings for describing the present invention or the prior art are introduced briefly in the following. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only about some embodiments of the present invention, and person of ordinary skill in the art can derive other drawings from the accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of an RRU according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a shell in the RRU according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the embodiments to be described are only a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by persons skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effects shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 describes an RRU according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes an RRU radiator structural member 101 and a shell 102.

The structure of the shell 102 is shown in FIG. 2, and the shell 102 includes an evaporator 1021, radiating pipes 1022 and a shell body 1023.

The inside of the evaporator 1021 is in communication with the radiating pipes 1022, and the radiating pipes 1022 are disposed on a surface of the shell body 1023.

The radiating pipes 1022 may be made of a metal material, for example, metal with good heat conducting performance such as copper and aluminum; and may also be made of a plastic material, such as heat conducting plastic. The material of the shell body 1023 may be the same as the material of the radiating pipes 1022, and may also be different from the material of the radiating pipes 1022. The length and the shape of the radiating pipes 1022 may be designed or assembled as required.

The evaporator 1021 may be fixed on the shell body 1023; for example, the evaporator 1021 may be fixed on the shell body 1023 by adopting screws or buckles, thereby ensuring that the evaporator 1021 is tightly connected to the shell body 1023.

The evaporator 1021 is connected to a radiator of the RRU radiator structural member 101.

It may be seen from the foregoing description that, the evaporator included by the shell in the RRU according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected to the radiator of the RRU radiator structural member, so that the heat of the radiator can be transferred to the evaporator, and the heat may be further transferred through the radiating pipes since the evaporator is connected to the radiating pipes, thereby improving the radiating efficiency and improving the work stability of the RRU.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to enable the evaporator to maintain the position fixed after the evaporator is connected to the radiator, the evaporator may be locked through screws, thereby ensuring that the heat of the radiator can be transferred to the evaporator.

Further, a groove is disposed in the evaporator 1021, so that the groove may be in communication with the radiating pipes 1022 to form a loop, thereby further improving the heat conduction efficiency.

A phase changeable medium may be filled in the radiating pipes 1022, and the medium may be a medium having an efficient phase change heat exchange capability such as water, ammonia, or Freon.

After the phase changeable medium is filled in the radiating pipes 1022, the heat may be transferred in the radiating pipes through the phase changeable medium, and then the radiating is performed through the radiating pipes; further, when the radiating pipes are in communication with the groove of the evaporator to form the loop, the heat may be transferred more quickly between the evaporator and the radiating pipes through the phase changeable medium, thereby improving the radiating efficiency.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the radiating pipes 1022 may be embedded in the shell body 1023, so the radiating pipes 1022 and the shell body 1023 may be manufactured through integral molding; for example, when the shell body 1023 is made of the plastic material, the blow-up process may be performed on the shell body 1023 to form the radiating pipes 1022, and in this case, the radiating pipes 1022 is also made of the plastic material; or when the shell body 1023 is made of the plastic material, and the radiating pipes 1022 is made of the metal material, the injection molding may be performed on the radiating pipes 1022.

Alternatively, the radiating pipes 1022 may not be embedded in the shell body 1023, and in this case, the radiating pipes 1022 and the evaporator 1021 may be located at two sides of a surface of the shell body 1023 respectively. The radiating pipes 1022 and the shell body 1023 maybe respectively machined, and then are assembled with the evaporator 1021 to form the shell 102; compared with the practice that the radiating pipes 1022 and the shell body 1023 are manufactured through the integral molding, the foregoing practice may reduce the machining difficulty and the manufacturing cost, and meanwhile the design flexibility may also be improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to further improve the radiating efficiency of the RRU, a ventilation hole may be opened on the shell body 1023, thereby satisfying requirements of the RRU for the ventilation quantity under different environments.

It can be easily understood that, for better radiating, and for convenience of the circulation of the phase change material in the evaporator and the radiating pipes, the horizontal position of the radiator is not higher than that of the radiating pipes, that is to say, the horizontal position of the radiator is lower than or horizontal to that of the radiating pipes. Definitely, in the case that the radiating efficiency is not taken into consideration, or the gasified medium generated by the evaporator can provide a sufficient acting force to enable the phase change medium to flow in the loop formed by the evaporator and the radiating pipes, or additional power elements are mounted in the radiating pipes, the evaporator may also be higher than the radiating pipes.

An RRU according to the embodiments of the present invention is introduced in detail in the foregoing, and the illustration of the foregoing embodiments is only used to help in understanding the method and the idea of the present invention. Meanwhile, persons of ordinary skill in the art can make variations and modifications to the present invention in terms of the specific implementations and application scopes according to the ideas of the present invention. Therefore, the specification shall not be construed as limitations to the present invention. 

1. A Remote Radio Unit (RRU) comprising: an RRU radiator structural member and a shell, wherein the shell comprises an evaporator, radiating pipes and a shell body, the inside of the evaporator is in communication with the radiating pipes to forma loop for holding a phase change medium, and the radiating pipes are disposed on the shell body; and the evaporator is connected to a radiator of the RRU radiator structural member.
 2. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein a groove exists in the evaporator, and the groove is in communication with the radiating pipes to form a loop.
 3. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein a phase changeable medium is filled in the radiating pipes.
 4. The RRU according to claim 3, wherein the phase changeable medium is at least a one of water, ammonia or Freon.
 5. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein the radiating pipes are at least a one of: embedded in the shell body or disposed on the outside of the shell body.
 6. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein the shell body comprises at least a one of plastic material or metal material, and the radiating pipes comprise at least a one of plastic material or metal material.
 7. The RRU according to claim 6, wherein the metal material comprises at least one of copper or aluminum.
 8. The RRU according to claim 6, wherein the plastic material comprises heat conducting plastic.
 9. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein the shell body is opened with a ventilation hole.
 10. The RRU according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal position of the evaporator is horizontal to or lower than that of the radiating pipes. 